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Had you passed by Old City Hall on Monday around 6:45 a.m., you might have assumed a new iPhone model was being released. A queue was forming on the stairs behind doors that would remain locked for more than another hour.

On James St., across from the Eaton Centre, stood an inert cavalcade of satellite trucks. A pool of radio producers with boom mics and videographers assembled on a grassy knoll, shining eerie TV lights into the dusk.

The vibe at times was oddly giddy, a Super Bowl tailgate without the booze or food.

“I’ve never seen anything like this,” said one court worker, shaking his head.

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And so, even before it started, Reginav. Jian Ghomeshi felt like something momentous was rumbling to life. At 9:42 a.m., the former CBC star ambled into Courtroom 125, and the anticipation was replaced by legal theatrics more spellbinding than about 75 per cent of all TV shows broadcast in this country.

The first complainant, who testified Monday, can’t be identified due to a publication ban. But watching her spiral from tranquil and assured while answering questions from Crown attorney Michael Callaghan to imploding during cross examination from Ghomeshi’s attorney, Marie Henein, was like watching a kitten tumble into a lake and get tangled up in a fishing net.

Henein exhumed details from the complainant’s past statements, including those given under oath. She pointed out so many discrepancies it seemed entirely possible the complainant might suddenly “remember” her name was something else.

Did Ghomeshi own a yellow VW Beetle — which the complainant described as a “Disney car” — at the time he allegedly pulled her hair, one of the accusations? Did he “smash” her head into the window? Did he pull her head sideways or backwards? Did they kiss before the alleged attack? Was she wearing hair extensions that day?

The answers kept changing. At one point, as Henein paced in front of Justice William B. Horkins, removing her glasses, sternly warning the complainant to not reply before she finished the question, Ghomeshi glanced at his attorney.

His expression seemed to say: “Even if I have to eat Kraft Dinner for the rest of my days, this was worth my life savings.”

Day 1 started slowly with a motion related to upcoming evidence and the publication ban. It ended prematurely after a technical glitch prevented an evidence video from playing on the split-screen monitor inside the media “overflow” room, one floor below and equally crammed.

But in between, Day 1 was also the start of a fascinating legal drama, one that promises to take many procedural twists and human turns over the next two weeks.

There may strong arguments for not putting cameras in our courtrooms. But this trial was made for TV. It’s a shame all Canadians can’t watch this live.

Victims of sexual assault could see exactly just how unsparing a cross-examination can be; during the afternoon break, the complainant left momentarily, her eyes filled with tears and possible regret. Meanwhile, those who believe we are living during a renaissance of social media outrage and witch hunts might be startled by just how little — just how questionable — the evidence seems to be with respect to at least one of the charges against Ghomeshi.

In short: access to a trial like this could do wonders for our preconceived notions.

Just after 4 p.m., the creaky wooden benches emptied for the day. Observers streamed out past the high-spiral radiators and the court services staff that truly seemed freaked out by the turnout.

As the big doors opened onto sunshine, TV cameras were stationed around Old City Hall, waiting to catch a glimpse of the accused. A few photographers ran west. A larger crowd bolted east, toward James St.

On the north side, outside Bell Trinity Square, two limos idled as police officers in yellow jackets stood nearby, waiting for something to happen, waiting for normal to return.

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